edge when it came to avoiding that because of my futuresight. You had to hold and maintain
eye contact to get a thrall to take, and I could feel the wrongness of something like that. One
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of my lousier boyfriends had tried it once, the fucker. It was the only time since middle
school that I d punched someone. I still remember the feel of his head snapping back beneath
my fist, the shock on his face, and my erupting, consuming anger. I hadn t let go like that in a
long time. I was close now, though. Panic might lose out to rage, which would be even worse.
I closed my eyes and breathed in through my nose, out through my mouth as slowly and
deeply as I could. I needed to stay calm. This would be worked out. It would. The police
wouldn t hold me for long. The detective didn t think I d done it, and I knew I hadn t. The
truth would come out. I just had to wait for it to happen.
Detective O Connell brought me a sandwich and some more water after a few hours. He
didn t say anything else, but I could tell by his harried look that nothing new had broken,
which meant they hadn t found Reese yet. I was still their best lead for the robbery, which
would make me the world s dumbest criminal. I d walked right up to the cops at my front
door, for fuck s sake. Shouldn t I be running? Where had I stashed the God s eyes? No one
asked me because no one thought I had actually committed the crime. I held onto that, held
it and tried not to think about anything else as the hours crept by. Everything was fine. It was
going to be fine.
Then my mother called.
I stared blankly at the officer when he told me who was on the phone. How had she even
figured out what was going on? Then it hit me. Mrs. Polanski must have called her. She
knew my emergency contact information and seeing me get arrested, well, that must have
qualified to her as an emergency. I wanted to appreciate her thoughtfulness, but I couldn t.
Damn, I really needed to change my emergency contact information.
Sir? Do you want to take the call? He held out the phone to me. I have to stay in the
room while you do, but you can take it in here.
If I didn t talk to her, she d just freak out and drive down here. That would
be& excruciating. Sure, I muttered, and held out my hand for the phone. Hey Mom.
Daniel! Oh my God, Daniel, what s going on? Are you all right? Have you been hurt?
Have you been beaten? Have you been raped?
Jesus, Mom! Calm down, I m fine. I m just sitting by myself right now. The cop gave
me a sympathetic glance. Everything is okay.
Daniel Charles Hart, don t you sit there in prison and lie to your mother that everything
is okay! What have you done? Why are you in jail?
They think I stole some artifacts from the museum, Mom. I held the phone a little away
from my ear as she shrieked. I didn t, of course. They ll find out who did it soon enough and
then I ll be released.
You don t know that, Daniel, she sniffed. I mentally groaned, and ran my free hand
over my face as I heard her waterworks get going. You re far too trusting. People take
advantage of that. They always have, and if the police decide you have to go down for this
crime, they ll pin it on you. There are a lot of dirty cops out there, Daniel. They can twist the
evidence however they want.
Have you been watching crime dramas again, Mom? Every officer I ve met here has been
very nice.
I don t watch those shows anymore, they gave me nightmares. She sighed heavily. Do
you need me to come and post bail, Daniel?
Bail hasn t even been set yet, Mom. If I need help, I ll call you again, okay?
You call me the minute something changes, you hear me? I don t care if it s two in the
morning. I don t care if you catch me while I m in the shower or on the toilet, you call
Christ! Mom, okay! I get it, I ll call you. Please stop describing things.
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Don t be such a priss, Daniel.
Mom, I have to go. I looked desperately at the officer, and he nodded. My time is up, I
have to free up the phone. I ll call you, I promise.
You d better. I love you, honey. Even if you really stole those things and go to jail
forever and break my heart, I ll still love you. You know that, right? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]